Ignition-indicating device for internal-combustion engines.



A/DE GLAIRMONT. IGNITION INDIGATING DEVICE EOE INTERNAL GoMEUsTIoNENGINES. APPLICATION FILED DEC. 6I 1911. 1,084,397, Patented Jan. 13,1914.

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ADOLFO DE CLAIRMONT, O F TOLEDO, OHIO.

IGN ITION-IN DICATIN G DEVICE FOR INTERNL-COMB'US'I'ION ENGINES.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed December 6, 1911.

Patented Jan. 13,1914. serial No. 664,287.

T0 all w/Lom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ADOLFO DE CLAIR- MoNT, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Toledo, in the county of Lucas and State of Ohio,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ignition-IndicatingDevices fior Internal-Combustion Engines, of Whi tion. l

It is well known that drivers of automobiles have heretofore experiencedconsiderable diiiiculty, whenever the engine misses fire, or Wheneverone of the cylinders fails to explode, it being then necessary for theoperator to get out of the car and open the hood of the engine and testthe various spark plugs and Wiring in order to ascertain which cylinderis missing, which may be caused, as is well known, by defective wiring,sooted spark plugs, and various other causes.

the following is a specifica- I have observed that most drivers, `vvhenjever a cylinder misses, drive the car through to the end of theirdestination, trusting to chance to have the cylinder retire, and in suchevent, the cylinder that is missing, becomes sooted over with unburnedgasolene and carbonizes from the excess of oil flowi of the explosion ineach cylinder, therewill4 ing through without explosion from the heat ofthe cylinder, whereby the spark plugs and valves become sooted and theengine more or less severely injured.

With a knowledge of these conditions, my l invention, broadlyconsidered, aims to overcome these difficulties by the provision of athe operator -of an autof mobile or the like may have in front of him, ion the dash board, a cabinet containing a;

device whereb number of glass tubes, the number varying according partsbeing so arranged that at the instant occur in thecorresponding glasstube, a iiash of light n cacao. l

Specifically considered, my invention conT sists of a number 'of glasstubes incorporated in the wiring system of the engine and containing ararefied gas, in the nature of Geisler tubes, designed to becomeluminous at the instant vthe explosion occurs in the cylindercorresponding to a tube, whereby the driver may-at all times be kept infull knowledge of the working of the various cylinders, the tubes 4beingpreferably contained in glass' cylindrical casings which to the numberof cylinders, thel the invention also con- For a full understanding ofthe invention,

reference is to be had to the following description and accompanyingdrawing, in which:

Figure l is a faceview of one embodiment f my invention; Fig. 2 is atransverse sectional view through the box or cabinet containing thetubes, and.; Fig. 3 is a diagrainmatic view.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the'followingdescription and indicated in all the views of the drawing by the samereference characters.

In carrying'out myinvention, I provide 75 a number of glass tubes l, thenumber varying with the number of cylinders comprising the engine, saidtubes being preferably helical in form, as shown, and provided at theirends with bulbs 2, in which terminals or electrodes -3 are hermeticallysealed, the outer ends of the terminals projecting from the bulbs, asclearly illustrated in Fig. 2. These tubes are exhausted as much aspossible of atmospheric air and I prefer/to charge them beforeexhausting with hydrogen, or oxygen, sulfuric acid gas or other mineralcoloring vapors, there is left a very slight trace of the gas whichcolors the electrical iiash passing through the partial vacuum.

whereby I preferably inclose each tube 1 in a protective cylindricalcasing 4 of glass, said casing containing, if desired, a colored liquidcontaining a suitable dye in order to contrast the electrical flash. Theends of y.the protective cylinders or casings t maybe sealed, as at 5,by plaster of Paris or some similar substance, said ends being capped,as

at 6. Binding posts 7 pass in through the 100 ends of the casings intocontact with the terminals 3, and Wires 8 lead from the y magneto orother source of electrical supply 'and are connected to thecorresponding binding post 7 of the respective tubes l, 105 other wires9 leading from the opposite binding post of the respective tubes to thespark plugs l0 of the various cylinders; of

the engine.

In the preferred arrangement ofthe parte,

the tubes and their protective casings are mounted in a case or cabinet11 and are exposed to view through'th'e open front of the cabinet, thecabinet being provided, preferably, with a hinged top and bottom,whereby access may be readily had to the binding posts. Manuallyoperable switches 12 are ,mounted on the case 11 and, as bestillustrated in Fig. 3, are designed to directly connect the lowerbinding post 7 with the spark plugs 10 through the instrumentality ofwires 12a, whereby any tube may be cut out, should it become broken.

It will of course be understood that the wires 8 leading Jfrom themagneto or the like, pass as a cable 13 into the box or cabinet 11 andthat the wires leading from the tubes pass to the spark plugs by acorresponding cable 14, as indicated in Fig. 1.

From the foregoing description in connection with the accompanyingdrawing, the operation `of my improved visible spark system for internalcombustion engines will be apparent. 1

In the practical use of the device, the switches 12 being open, thetubes 1 will become luminous at the instant othe explosion in thecylinder, whereby the driver of the car may at all times be kept in fullknowledge of the conditions of the sparking system and at oncedetermine, should the occasion require, which of the cylinders is lfailing to tire.v No alterations are necessary,

as the devicel can be easily wired and attached to any make of car,using gasolene as the motive power and the engine of which -is ired by astorage cell, dry cell, magneto or induction coils'.

The device will manifestly increase the eiiciency of the engine, whichwill eiect a saving of gasolene or other hydrocarbon used, as it willproduce positive explosions on fairly weak mixtures, and furthermore,the life of the engine will be increased, for the reason that there willbe a uniform impulse on each cylinder at its proper cycle or period,thus preventing the stra-in which is imposed on an engine when it isrunning on only some of its cylinders.

It is to be understood that my invention is not limited to the precisedetails of cor.- struction shown inthe accompanying drawing, but tgttvarious changes may be made in the construction, arrangement andproportions of the parts without departing from the scope of theinvention as deiined in the appended claims.

Having thus described the what is cqlaimed as new is:

1. A device for indicating ignition in multiple cylinder explosiveengines comprising a cabinet having open front and hinged ends,supporting webs extending across the opposite ends of the cabinet, aplurality of transparent cylinders mounted between an extending throughsaid supporting webs, a pluralityy of helical vacuum tubes arranged onewithin each of the transparent cylinders, oppositely disposed terminalsin each of said tubes, and binding screws passing into the ends of eachtransparent cylinder and engaging the corresponding terminals.

2. A device for indicating ignition in multiple cylinder enginescomprising a cabinet having open front and hinged ends, supporting websextending through the cabinet, parallel to the hinged ends, a pluralityof transparent cylinders passing through said supporting webs and havingclosed ends, a plurality of vacuum tubes supported one in each of vthecylinders, a pair of oppositely disposed terminals passing into theopposite ends of each vacuum tube, binding screws disposed inconjunction with the opposite invention,

en d of each cylinder and having electrical connection with theterminals in the vacuum tubes.

In testimony whereof I aflx my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ADOLFO E GLAIRMONT, M. D. [n s] Witnesses:

AUSTIN SMITH, E. M. KEINATH.

